Monterey County Sheriff Steve Bernal hosted a State of the Sherriff’s Office Thursday afternoon, talking about the biggest challenge the department is facing, staffing, and what is being done to solve it.

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At the meeting Bernal also had an onboarding ceremony for 26 new Sherriff’s Office employees, a good showing of what is being done to address the staffing shortage.

"Oh boy we are short-staffed and to swear that many people in at the same time -- it's a great feeling," Bernal said about the hires.

Bernal said finding qualified law enforcement officers is a challenge nationwide but his department is committed to finding good people.

The group is divided between corrections recruits and deputy recruits, some of whom have been connected with the department since they joined the Explorers Program as kids.

"I felt like I was going to tear up. I'm probably going to tear up right now," said deputy recruit Juan Herrejon who was sworn in.

Herrejon first got involved with the Explorers Program, which allows youth to essentially intern with the department, when he was in eighth grade. He said he has always wanted to be a deputy.

"I remember being in first grade drawing a picture of myself in a sheriff's uniform, standing next to a sheriff car, and now I'm taking the oath and I'm ready for it," he said.

The Sheriff's Office has had to take deputies off patrol in the last year and put them in the jail to comply with new California State jail standards.

The move has made the jail safer in the last year and reduced overtime for corrections staff. But many communities have been concerned over losing officers on the roads.

"Now that we've filled all 24 positions, we don't have to have sheriffs filling in for them, and we can use them a little more efficiently," he said about the hires.

The sheriff said in preparation for the new hires, they've already taken two former patrol deputies out of the jail and put them back in their sheriff cars.